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Runaway Home/Ginger
Runaway Home and Runaway Home/Ginger are interchangeable, it doesn't matter which one you read first. But please read at least one of those before you read: Runaway Home/Home at Last Thank you Prologue Ciao! My name is Regina Stregone, and...well, I live with my brother and sister in law. Francesco, Frankie, and Prunella, Prunie, and their daughter, Gio. I know my mother, don't get me wrong, I see her every six months for a weekend, but she's more of a crazy older sister if anything. So I don't really include her in my family. If I can help it at least. My life isn't that bad, even with my mother not being a part of the equation really, so I guess I can't complain. Prunie and Frankie have been good to me, and Gio is my best friend, with the possible exception of Tony, and I've always had a home. Not just a house, a real home. I'm lucky like that. I guess I've never thought people could have it way worse than me. I mean, Tony has it worse than me, but not by much, as he has a loving aunt looking after him and his father actually actively seeks him out on occasion. I guess I always thought people either had really loving parents and a perfect life, such as Gio, or they were like me and Tony, had a loving guardian/family even if their parents aren't with them and they have a pretty good life. I know, I know, I am so naive. Actually I thought along those lines for most of my life. I never came across some one who didn't at least have someone who loves them. At least a little bit. It wasn't until I turned thirteen that I realized things were a lot darker for some people than I had believed. And I realized, my mothering job was more than just give a hungry person as big of meal as I can, or make sure the tired person goes to sleep. No, it involved me loving the person like the mother they may not have. And that was scary. Well, let me start at the beginning...it was a few weeks after my thirteenth birthday when I first heard it... Chapter One I suppose most people hear things in the middle of the night. Whether it all be in their minds or whether it was the wind or the rain, or some kind of animal. But this was different. I knew exactly what I heard, I had no doubts about whether or not it was real. The day had been ordinary enough, with Frankie commenting about how there was a lot of fuss on the other side of town, but he had been too busy to go see for himself why it was so. That was pretty unusual, our village was quiet and frankly quite boring, ignoring the resident witch and the ogre, and the estranged prince we had. Prunie noticed curiosity had sparked in Gio and I about the news, and she laughingly promised us that we would go see what it was the next day, before kissing us both on the foreheads, telling us she loved us, which we always echoed every night, and sent us off to bed. "Night Ginger." Gio yawned as she ducked into her room, before i could tell her the same. I shrugged, and got changed into warm flannel pajamas, white with plums printed all over them, and got into bed. I wasn't sure how long I had slept until I heard it. I was dreaming a pleasant dream at that point, in that point of sleep where you don't really want to wake up any time soon and if you tried, it would be like fighting through mud. Regardless, the noise woke me up. I was disoriented at first as I shot up in bed, rubbing my eyes, when I heard it again, clearer this time. A small, faint, whimper. Instantly, something snapped inside of me and I bolted into action. I grabbed my sweatshirt, zipping it up as I moved quietly through the house, grabbing what I needed. I heated up the soup from dinner, and while that warmed, grabbed a warm yellow blanket, a first aid kit, the fire starting kit Frankie had made. (We had all teased him for it, saying there was no need, but I was suddenly really grateful he had made it.) The soup was just warm enough when I poured it into a thermos, shut the cap tight, and headed out. Chapter two I walked about half a mile, maybe a little more, with each step the whimpers getting louder, and finally turning into full on sobbing, breaking my heart. I pressed on, and that's when I saw it. A boy, not very much older than myself, if even any older, curling up in on himself, tugging his hair, as he made quiet cries. My first thought was that I didn't recognize this boy, but when he yanked his hair again, causing strands to fall off in his hands, I didn't care about that, and ran toward him, carefully dropping my supplies. I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew soothing words were the first step. So I carefully removed his hands, and chastised him gently. "no no tesoro, non farlo." It came out more like a coo than a chastise, which was what I wanted, I didn't really want to scold him, not yet. He seemed to relax slightly, but I continued, running my own hands through his hair gently, and singing under my breath an old Italian lullaby. I knew from my own experience that when I was upset, Prunie singing this same lullaby and running her hands through my hair, always made me relax enough to fall asleep. "merci mon ange sur terre." He said as his voice slurred and he fell asleep. My hands faltered. Everyone in the village at least spoke Italian and most, though not all, knew English. And I knew that was neither language. He definitely was a stranger. When he fell asleep, I surveyed the damage. His hair was a mess, his face tear stained, but still incredibly pale, his pajamas wet and muddy, and his hands...I checked to make sure, cold as ice. Continuing down, he had some bruises on his legs, he was shivering, and...I did a double take at that. One foot was muddy, the other was both muddy and bloody, but even with that, I could see something strange. His foot was twisted, in a way it sickened me to see. It reminded me of Contadino Cavallo's dog. It had a baby with a misshapen paw that the man had called a clubfoot. But they had a surgery to fix it when the dog was still pretty young. Surely there were surgeries to fix the same thing in humans? Why hadn't they done it for him? That was cruel. Well there was no time to judge his parents parenting techniques, I had to get to work. So I started with the clubfoot, carefully cleaning it up to the best of my ability, and bandaged it, before moving on. Chapter three I was doing my best to warm the soup up a little more, when I heard noises behind me. "You awake?" I was now incredibly grateful Frankie had insisted that Gio and I learn English, because I didn't know the language he had spoken last night, and I was pretty confidant that he knew no Italian. So English was the best bet. "Eat." I didn't give him time to answer before shoving the spoon at him, I knew he was probably starving, and was certainly cold and weak, so soup was the best thing to start with. "Sorry if it isn't that hot." I really was sorry, I knew cold soup wasn't very good from the few times in my childhood Tony's aunt would make me stay until I finished the soup. "Tried my best to keep it warm." When he still didn't say anything, I just shrugged, getting other things ready like the water bottle, and debating whether I needed to pull the thermometer out of the first aid kit that Prunie insisted should be in there and once again I was finding myself feeling grateful. "Why?" I heard a hoarse whisper, instantly putting me even further on alert if that was even possible. "Why what?" "Why take care...of someone like me?" His breath came in short gasps, and I was instantly by his side with the spoon and a water bottle, wordlessly asking what he wanted. I knew he needed that and it gave me a few seconds to quell the anger bubbling up at how unsure he sounded. Like he wasn't used to people acting loving to him. And why? Because of his foot? I pressed the bottle to his lips so he could drink. "It's just...something I do." I shrugged. There was no way I was about to explain about Mamina Gina to a complete stranger. He'd think it was bizarre, and sometimes, quite frankly I found it bizarre. "We should stay here for another day before taking you home." I changed the subject, noticing how he winced at the mention of home. Chapter four After a day and night of me taking care of him, I knew it was time to go. His parents would be worried about him. I looked at him waiting for him to tell me where he lived. When I received no answer, I smiled. "I need to know where you live. So I can take you home." "Oh that's unnecessary I can just head there myself." He babbled, saying more in that one sentence then he had the whole time I was taking care of him, as he stood up. But his foot buckled, and I caught him. "How? You can't even walk." I scolded. I was expecting something like this. Gio broke her leg the year before and was doing things she really shouldn't be doing as soon as she was released from the hospital. There were some people who didn't want to seem weak. "Then how will I get there?" He said, sounding like he thought he won. I just smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm stronger than I look." I always enjoyed this about people, surprising them with my strength. With hardly a show of effort, I scooped him up bridal style. "Now where do you live?" I pressed. I knew his parents would be worried. Did he even have parents? I hadn't really thought of that, but that would explain why he was so shocked I was being loving to him. He told me his address and carry him there I did. I didn't go very fast, for fear of stumbling, so I turned an hour long walk into a three and a half hour one. I got to his house, and put him down. Something I could only describe as terror was painted across his face, so I kept one arm wrapped around him. I thought he might bolt. A woman answered the door. She looked annoyed. And very scary. "qu'Est-ce que c'est? Qui es-tu? Qu'est-ce que tu veux?!" I blinked. She did resemble the boy some, so I figured she was his mother. Poor guy. "Um, I brought, your son?" The boy nodded. "You interrupted me for my son?! Witch girl!" She pulled the boy inside and slammed the door. I blinked again. That woman clearly could not love the way that boy needed to be loved. As I walked home, I made myself a solemn vow. If his mother wouldn't love him, I would for her. Category:Cerisefan03's Fanfiction Category:Original Character Fanfiction